Google Is Out-Innovating Apple, Says Steve Jobs' Biographer

Walter Isaacson, author of the best-selling Steve Jobs biography, claims Google is showing more signs of innovation than its biggest rival.

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If there's anyone who could provide insight on Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) halcyon days under the leadership of former CEO Steve Jobs, it's Walter Isaacson.

Author of the best-selling Steve Jobs biography, Isaacson conducted extensive interviews with his subject as well as collected a wealth of in-house information from company men and women. Isaacson is one of very few people given access to details and insider accounts of all things Apple, giving him true perspective of where the company was, where it's going, and the state it's currently in.

Unfortunately, Isaacson believes the company isn't as innovative as it once was.

In an appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box, the author boldly declared that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is responsible for the "greatest innovation in the world today," and pointed to the company's buyout of Nest as a perfect example of how Google's anticipation of home automation trumps Apple CEO Tim Cook's latest deal with China Mobile.

"Google buying Nest shows an amazingly strong, integrated strategy that Google has to connect all of our devices, all of our lives," Isaacson said. "The Internet of Things is actually real. There are these devices we're gonna want to have and Google's going to get ahead of that game."

Isaacson also puts the pressure on Tim Cook by comparing the chief to his esteemed predecessor.

"Steve Jobs was a disruptor. I think that now Tim Cook has done this big thing in China, he's got two things to do now," he told the Squawk Box panel. "Take over the company ... In the late February shareholders meeting, they probably have to start thinking about who should be on the board next. This board is all Steve Jobs' people. They aren't exactly the Tim Cook fan club."

He added, "Second, he's got to say, 'What am I going to disrupt? Is it going to be wearables? Is it going to be a watch? Is it going to be TV?' We ought to see, in 2014, Apple do something huge."

Indeed, analysts and consumers have said the company is overdue for a product on par with the trio of groundbreaking mobile devices introduced on Steve Jobs' watch. Granted, it's a tall order for Cook, but if Apple wants to maintain (or reclaim, as it were) its reputation for being innovative and ahead of the curve, 2014 needs to be the year of big things from Cupertino.

Otherwise, that reputation will slink further and further away from Cook and Company's grasp.